Friday, November 4, 2016

THE INCREDIBLE HULK (1977)

On this day in 1977, CBS aired Kenneth Johnson's first Incredible Hulk television
movie, which led to a five year, 82 episode weekly series. My thirteen year-old mind was blown... and I've never been quite
right since.

7 comments:

I picked one episode at random to watch recently (and now I've forgotten which one) and was very surprised to see it packed to the rafters with rather obviously gay characters. That seems pretty progressive for a late Seventies network show.

In this day of multi-million dollar superhero motion picture extravaganzas, it may be hard for some people to realize what a big deal the Incredible Hulk TV series was for fans in the 70s. It was the first successful dramatic, prime time adaptation of a comic book series since George Reeves' Superman of two decades earlier, and the first ever live action Marvel Comics adaptation. I grew up on 1960s Marvels, and to see a series based upon a Lee/Kirby creation was a dream come true.I recently watched the 2008 Hulk movie for the first time and was pleased to see Lou Ferrigno in a cameo role; an affectionate tribute to the man who was the Hulk to millions of viewers.

During the show’s production, a family friend gave me an intact styrofoam brick from one of Hulk’s break-away walls! I probably didn’t care about 95% of the show since I was only in it to see the Hulk, but my folks found the melodrama entertaining. Looking at it today, I see how well Bill Bixby sold it.

I remember when I was 7 or 8 years old in the late '70s, I would be at the newsstand reading comic books while my Mom did the grocery shopping. I would then get to pick out one comic book to buy for being "good" (It was easy; I was just reading the whole time). That's when I started collecting Hulk and other Marvel Comics. Imagine my amazement when I noticed this EXACT ad in the TV Guide! Around this same time, we also got the Spider-man and Captain America TV movies/shows. To a little kid familiar with comic book characters, it was like a dream come true.Back then, we kids had Star Wars movie/toys, the Six Million Dollar Man show/toys, Marvel Comics books/shows, Marvel (among others) Mego figures, Hot Wheels cars, John Berkey King Kong posters, etc., etc., etc. Man, we were both lucky and spoiled back then, it seems! Good Times!

ABOUT THIS BLOG

This blog is dedicated to the science fiction films and television series of the 1970s - give or take a few years (say, 1969-1983) - including such nostalgic favorites as Star Wars, Space: 1999, UFO, Space Academy, the original Battlestar Galactica, Jason of Star Command, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Logan's Run and many others.

But be warned: I still love these productions with all the enthusiasm I held for them as a kid, and they will be treated here with affection and respect. If you're looking for someone to snarkily denigrate "old" movies - or like to do that yourself - you've come to the wrong site.

So journey with us back to the days when special effects were created by skillful hands and spaceships were detailed models, when robots were obligatory comedy relief, when square-jawed heroes and cloaked villains battled among the stars -- and the future was fun!

PLEASE NOTE:I do not sell (nor even buy, all that often) the memorabilia and merchandise I write about on this blog, nor do I have any idea what value your "collectibles" might have. That's not what this site is about, so please don't ask me.

ABOUT ME

Christopher Mills is a professional writer of comic books and short fiction in a variety of genres, as well as a DVD reviewer for several pop culture websites. His taste in entertainment clearly peaked when he was about 15, which certainly explains his embarrassing obsession with James Bond, hardboiled crime fiction, comic books, paperback pulps, space opera, Universal/Hammer/Toho Monsters, sword & sorcery sagas, old genre TV shows and vintage B-movies.

VISIT MY HOMEPAGE:

MY SCI-FI WEBCOMIC

MY CULT FILM & B-MOVIE SITE

Reviewing genre DVDs Since 2005

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